Green Peppercorns (ounce)

Green peppercorns are very similar to black peppercorns. They are both the unripe fruit of the same vine and can be picked at the same time. Unlike the heat drying process used to produce black peppercorns, green peppercorns are plucked from the peppercorn vine and then boiled, washed with potassium sulphite to halt the oxidization process (that would cause the green peppercorn to turn black), and then freeze dried or dehydrated. Black peppercorns are also the unripe green fruit of the plant. The most common process of creating black peppercorns is to boil them after they have been picked and then use heat to dry them. The heat used in this process fractures the cell walls and turns them brown. On some estates, the peppercorns are not boiled first, but only dried by the sun. The difference between white peppercorns and green and black peppercorns is the time that they are picked and the process that is used once they have been harvested. White peppercorns are fully ripe red pepper fruits that are harvested and soaked in water for about 1 week, this allows the outer skin of the pepper fruit to soften and start to decompose. Rubbing then removes what is left of this outer shell and the the remaining inner seed is dried.